Monday, April 28, 2014

As you know already, Sasuke 30 has been officially announced and will be taking place soon ™. It is expected to be airing this summer in Japan on TBS. Japanese auditions took place in April, 2014 in the cities of Osaka (April 18th) and Tokyo (April 27th).

TBS has been unusually active on Social media this time around with a new Twitter account and the Facebook that they started last year. It was also unusual to see a rare, behind the scenes photos of the process of this year's Trials (which was actually an audition similar to Sasuke 28). Usually this process is secret and anyone posting would have been barred from the show. So, if you can imagine, I was shocked to see these 3 photos from Tokyo. I was thrilled!

Both audition sessions (Osaka and Tokyo) consisted of 2 parts (and if you were lucky, 3 parts). The first part was a push up contest where you had to do 100 pushups. Then, was the 30 second appeal (basically where you stand in front of the director and TBS crew and explain why they should put you on the show). If you passed both sets you were brought back for another set of interviews (this time specific questions based on your application).

Tokyo hopefuls still have to wait until the middle of this week to find out if they have succeeded in getting on Sasuke 30. Either way, we are full speed ahead with taping coming soon™ and airing sometime later this summer! I can't wait!

Saturday, April 5, 2014

The 23rd Annual Maguro Festival 第23回串木野まぐろフェスティバル will take place the end of this month in Kagoshima Prefecture on Saturday April 26 and Sunday April 27, 2014 in the city of Ichiki-Kushikino. This of course happens during Golden Week in Japan (this year it is the weekend just prior to Golden week).
This is a local Tuna event for the port city of Kushikino. It's
pretty much a county fair including games for kids, music, food and
other activities for the whole family. This will be my 6th year covering this event on my blog.

The past few years the company Sasuke All-Star Makoto Nagano 長野誠 works for, Takasui Corp.
has participated in the event (since they also use this fishing
port) and they have Nagano design and build a Sasuke set where he
could demonstrate his skills along with a few of his friends to the
local crowd. More information can be found at the city website.
No word on exactly which All-stars will accompany him in participating this year
during the 2 day event. (Edit: Seems at least All-Star Shingo Yamamoto 山本進悟 and All-Star Toshihiro Takeda 竹田敏浩 will be returning per Facebook comments)

On a personal note, I'll be doing my very first Sasuke panel at an anime convention called AnimeNext. The panel is named "Rambling Rican presents: Sasuke/Ninja Warrior impact in the USA Market". Since I'll be at an anime convention, I'm sure if I just put Sasuke most people people there will think it's a Naruto panel. LOL My goal is to cover the history of the event from it's inception in Sasuke 1 all the way to present using the lens of the foreign viewers. The anime convention is as the graphic says, at the Garden State Exhibit Center on June 6-8, 2014 in Somerset, New Jersey. I'm not entirely sure which day I will be getting (hopefully the Saturday) but I'll post any news on that as the date gets closer. Wish me luck!

As you know already, Sasuke 30 has been officially announced to be taking place and airing this summer. Japanese auditions will take place later this month in several cities across Japan. The application deadline for the auditions in Japan is April 10, 2014.

I've been meaning to do this post for a month, but haven't been feeling well lately. Sorry for the delay. Earlier in March, I had another interview with Yuusuke Morimoto 森本 裕介, who was kind enough to give me a report after the Sasuke ASEAN Open Cup 2014 in Malaysia. If you remember, he also did an interview before the tournament started. I 'm happy he was willing to speak with me again on the subject so soon after his previous interview. Along with his thoughts, I also in my researched ran across the messages written by other members of Team Japan. So, I decided to put them all together in one blog.

I wanted to do an overall impressions blog that focused on Team Japan. After all, my blog has always been about Sasuke Japan and in particular the Sasuke All-stars. Here we had two of them in the event along with other fan favorites. I couldn't resist. I kept waiting for other reports to come in and then I got distracted, and then sick.. and well that's why the long delay. I did however, get a report of a very touching post made by one of the guys from Team Japan. It was unexpected and very moving. Here's what Asa had to say.

(Message from New Generation member Kazuma Asa 朝一眞 on his private Facebook account - reprinted with permission. Translation by Carol Hui Akiyama - also with permission)

Sorry for worrying everyone
But I got my phone working again!

Sasuke Asean Open Cup 2014 has ended and I returned home safely.

Sasuke is the greatest!
This was by far the best three days of my life!
A huge THANK YOU to the producers, staff, Nagano-san, Matachi, the Japanese team and the participants from around the world.
We had such an amazing time.
I wish I could have stayed in Malaysia longer…

My emotions, oh, my emotions!
When I was beginning to lose confidence in myself, Inui-san ran to me and slapped me hard on the back to get me back to life.
From the time I was selected on the Japan team, Takayama-san fought along with me.
And Kikuno-san who cheered on our team until his voice was coarse and was both disappointed and happy about our results.
Thank you to Sugiyama-san and Yamamoto-san, and the other members of the TBS team.
Then there was Nagano-san who despite having the flu and sweating away like crazy, still slapped everyone to motivate us.
And Matachi who came to Malaysia earlier as a tester, who became darker than the locals and gave us advice.
Morimoto was the youngest, but he always remained calm and knew what he came here to do.
Kanno, with whom I represented Japan twice with (in Las Vegas) was a constant source of support for me.
And there was Kong who used his body as a vehicle for jokes and creating such a fun mood for everyone.
My last thank you goes to our team captain Yamamoto-san who was such a tremendous leader and showed everyone what the spirit of Sasuke is all about!

The bond of the Japan team resulted in the silver medal!
This silver medal is my treasure!

My emotions, oh, my emotions!!
My feelings of trying my best will continue!!
I want to express my most sincere gratitude to everyone involved in creating this special experience!
THANK YOU SO MUCH!!
And to everyone who sent me messages, comments to support me!
A Big Thank you to you too!!
I will continue trying my best so please continue supporting me!!

I was moved by Asa's words (remember that he lost his phone - and no, he never found it. He reported it stolen and had to get another one) given his previous international event (Las Vegas) where the experience was quite.. different (and definitely not as positive). I was moved by the fact that he mentioned, given his age and experience, that this weekend in Malaysia was the best in his life. That's quite a strong statement to make. It's rare to read what he says publicly since he's new to us in the fan-dom (especially Facebook). It was interesting getting his insights. It was also fun to confirm how passionate this guy really is. Even when writing you can FEEL the emotion coming out of him.

Morimoto is quite the opposite of Asa in terms of outward emotions. He can talk about Sasuke for hours on end so he's hardly shy. He was so proud to be on that Japan Team. A highlight to actually say he was on an international team and that they actually medaled. He's never left Japan before so this was a trip to remember.

I remember talking to Morimoto about the team dynamic. Especially since his polar opposite, Asa was present and competing on the same team. Similar to what we've known about the original Sasuke All-stars, where each person is so different from one another, this group had the same vibe. Given that the team was made up by the results of Sasuke 29, you couldn't put a more different group of people together. Confirming also what I've learned during my interviews, even though Morimoto is the youngest, he's by far the most quiet. He only speaks when he feels he can contribute. He's modest, reserved and truly focused. Could be his country upbringing.

Then there was Shingo. He became the de facto team leader. It wasn't anything anyone really did or voted on, it just .. happened. His presence, personality and experience made him the team leader even before the plane left Japan. And besides, just look at him! LOL I'd love to hang out with him! Everyone did take time to say much about Shingo and him being the leader. Again, hard to put into words, but spending time with him was actually a highlight on their trip.

Especially when hearing about how sick Nagano was (he had the flu before he left Japan - his son Kaiou first contracted it), it was awe-inspiring to see how open he was with posing for pics and generally mingling. I know fans (and fellow Team Japan members) were so happy to see him be a part of the event. And yes, feel free to laugh at me as I laugh at the placement of that water bottle. Just saying..

As you can tell, everyone was happy Nagano made the trip. LOL Sorry.. I just had to share that photo. For those who don't understand what that is.. it's the Fusion dance from Dragonball Z. Ah so many funny pictures to chose from. Oh.. and I'm not sure who owns that photo. It's probably Ryan but I saw it on Sasuke Malaysia's Facebook feed. If I do confirm that I'll edit the copyright. Speaking of Facebook, another message popped up that was translated by Carol (thanks Carol!)

I really want to express my gratitude to the TBS and SASUKE Malaysia organizations for creating the opportunity to turn a television show into an international sports competition.

A Kochi University student
A tree trimmer
A janitor/ (self-proclaimed) silver accessory designer
A former gas jockey
A delivery man

These are the five representatives of Japan at an international sporting competition. Is that not the most amazing thing ever?
Oh, and the special guest who spoke in front of honorable representatives at this event was a -- fisherman.

In 1997, we created this show with the concept of it being “an Olympic for the unknown athletes.” Indeed, this was exactly what the three days were all about.

At the end of the awards ceremony, competitors from seven countries began chanting “Inui, Inui.” I entered their circle of camaraderie. I’m so glad that I worked hard to help create this show. And from today, I’m going to continue working hard.

Inui's message was also something unexpected. Since coming back to Sasuke it's been difficult to get the pulse of the current fandom. Especially the foreign delegation. There he had the opportunity to meet the foreign fans up close and personal.

He's right that the spirit of Sasuke was present during the small event. The spirit of camaraderie among people from all walks of life prevailed during the event. They were fans of each other! Always remembering that this isn't a pro event, it's a fan event turning into something bigger. Something different, but with the same spirit behind it.

Overall they enjoyed the weekend. Not even because of the results, but because they finally got to mingle with other Sasuke fans around the world. While now I expect the event will become bigger and the differences between Sasuke ASEAN and Sasuke Japan become more apparent, it's really good to take time and enjoy the beginning of it all.

A special event where everyone banded together and made the impossible dream happen and finding out that one small family is actually a much larger family in the process. The Sasuke Spirit lives on in a new form while still holding on to what it was that made us love it in the first place.

To Yuusuke, thank you for again sharing your photos and insights during this whole process. I thank him for his patience with me while I put together these blogs! I'm happy that he didn't come home empty handed. So color me bias on that front. Thanks also to Asa and Inui for allowing the private Facebook messages to be translated and shared with the worldwide audience.

Finally, I thought this was touching. Shingo posted a photo of his wall: various prized photos, a group photo from Sasuke, wedding photos, Sasuke his belated dog and other mementos. He framed his Team Japan Uniform!